In a press release sent by GCMMF in Gujarati, its Vice-Chairman Jetha Bharvad has expressed reservation on the talk of India reducing import duty on skimmed milk powder. Bharvad, who doubles up as an MLA, was speaking in the Gujarat Assembly.
Bharvad said that crores of Indian farmers are associated with dairy sector and any reduction in import duty on SMP would bring in deluge of cheap milk in the country, making it next to impossible to get the returns the farmers do presently on the procurement of the milk.
Bharvad asked the state govt to find it out from the Centre and lobby hard if there is truth in the matter.
He also reminded that while farmers in other countries engaged in dairy could be counted in hundreds, those involved in India are in crores. The federal govt should see the interest of Indian farmers first, he asserted.
Jetha Bharvad who is a BJP MLA from Shehra fear that multinational corporations from countries like New Zealand, Australia and other countries of Europe are trying to sell SMP in India through provisions of Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
He also informed that while New Zealand is selling SMP at Rs 150 per kg, the same is in the range of Rs 280-290 in India. If imports are allowed, milk procurement prices are likely to drop by Rs 7-8 per litre.
What Bharvad seems not to know is that Indian govt is increasingly under pressure to reduce import duties on a number of items. Recently USA delisted it from the Preferential Status when its repeated request to reduce import duties were not accepted.
Caught in a tough situation though, India cannot afford to allow cheap SMP into the country which would not only pauperize Indian farmers but also BJP’s vote-bank.